


Suicide mission

by crunchturtles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Military, Drama, Escape, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Horror, M/M, Military, Military Kink, Missions Gone Wrong, Mystery, Politics, Shounen-ai, Suicide, Survival, Thriller, Wilderness Survival, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24017164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crunchturtles/pseuds/crunchturtles
Summary: After discovering a terrible secret of his superior colonel Miya Atsumu, lieutenant Oikawa and his team (Kageyama, Hinata, Yamaguchi) was sent on a suicide mission so he would never come back alive to tell the tale. If they go, they’ll die, if they run away, they’ll be hunted down and executed as deserters.Oikawa and his trusted subordinate, Kageyama, plan their team’s escape with the help of trusted friends Iwaizumi and Tsukishima from the military intel.Will they be able to start a new life elsewhere? Or will they get caught? Or will they do more than that?Military AU. Lieutenant Oikawa, Sergeant Tobio, and friends in a survival situation.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio & Oikawa Tooru, Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 58





	1. Operation Telos

**Author's Note:**

> None of this is related to any real people or facts. The country names mentioned here are just names of random ancient Greek countries. Some of the military jargon might be a bit confusing, but I'll explain it along the way and I promise it'll get better! Really wanted to write a military AU, hope you'll enjoy it too.

Oikawa felt all the muscles of his body tense up and his heart started to beat at a horrendously rapid pace. It can’t be- these papers on the colonel’s table, just what is going on?

_ Thank you for your assistance with the blueprints of the Southern naval base. In return, here are some presents that you might find useful.  _

The words on the paper were printed in black and white, on a plain paper. His hands were shaking as he clutched the papers more tightly than he needed to, almost crumpling them. These ‘presents’ that were mentioned came in the form of photos. Photos taken from a hidden camera in a hotel room, of one of their country’s ministers in bed with a hooker, in all the most embarrassing positions you can think of. 

Just a few moments ago, he’d been summoned to his superior’s office, supposedly to give a verbal report on his previous mission, which was a smooth success, but ended up finding  _ this _ when his superior told him to take a seat while he took a quick trip to the restroom.

“Lieutenant Oikawa.” the voice from behind him gave him a startle. The man who called his name closed the door behind him and calmly walked to his seat behind his desk. “Prying into what’s not meant for you, huh?”

“Colonel Miya Atsumu.” Oikawa hissed, reluctantly greeting the man who was dressed neatly in his military uniform, donning the three crests on each of his shoulders that signified his rank. His hair was dyed blonde, that was never really approved by the military, but no one dared to tell him off. He was a powerful, cunning man that made anyone’s knees buckle when he stared into their eyes.

Oikawa admitted he was more nosey than he should be, and more mischievous than what was good for him. Because there was an unsealed brown envelope on the table with a red ‘classified’ stamp on it, his itchy fingers grabbed it to take a look while Miya went out for a minute.  _ What harm would it do? _ He had thought, it’s probably just some secret mission they wanted to hide from the public, and him taking a peek wouldn’t change anything.

But this was anything but harmless.

Miya Atsumu, a colonel of the infantry, was working with someone against the government. Was it an enemy nation, or the terrorists? Oikawa did not know, but he did know for sure his superior was planning treason.

“Who are they?” Oikawa asked, knowing fully well that the more information he seeked, the more likely Miya was going to get rid of him, and that meant to silence him for good. Knowing his superior, killing someone was something he wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at, so he was going to kill him regardless. But then again, they are all soldiers, and killing was their profession, after all. 

“Thessaly.” Miya whispered, mouthing the words exaggeratedly, as if he were telling Oikawa a big secret.

_ Thessaly, _ that was the neighbouring country to the south that their country, Macedon, was at odds with. These two countries weren’t declaring an all out war, but tension was strong and behind the scenes they often did many sabotage missions and fought for military superiority. Oikawa’s last mission was to recon on an enemy installation, and pave the way for another unit to pass through, which they did successfully.

“Now that you've found out, what should I do with you?” Miya spun about in his chair, resting his head on his hands, elbows perched on the arm rests.

“Rather laid back you are, considering the severity of the plans you have.” Oikawa retorted, forcing a smirk over his nervous, anxious expression. The other man did not seem to be affected by his taunts at all.

“Ah, I know!” Miya pointed a finger in the air as if he’d just thought of an ingenious idea. “You did well on your last mission, so I’ll send you on another one.”

His menacing smile sent shivers down the lieutenant's spine.

“Make sure you do it well this time too.

* * *

And that was how he was assigned to Operation Telos . Not just him, but his whole team was dragged into this. Miya Atsumu really wanted to exterminate them all.

“Shit!” He cursed and banged a fist on the wooden table, the sheer force causing some of the stationery to bounce off the table.

Normally, Iwaizumi would have given him a whack on the head and scolded him for making a mess, but this time his expression was just as solemn. He was furious, to say the least. He watched his dear friend in silence as he shut his eyes, brows twitching, teeth gritted painfully tight. Oikawa’s hand covered his eyes, grabbed his own forehead, then angrily ran through his hair. 

“Shit!” he cursed again, collapsing and sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

They were inside a portable command post, one of those vehicles the military used that could expand into a room larger than what the truck seemed to be able to hold, just by unfolding the panels at the sides of the truck. In it contained computers and equipment that the soldiers used to do their operations on, mainly on intelligence and communication.

Iwaizumi was Oikawa’s childhood friend, and also his batchmate when they enlisted in the military together. They were very close friends and they thought they would be together in the future after they graduated from the officer cadet training school, but Iwaizumi chose to move on to military intelligence while Oikawa opted to stay in the infantry. At that time it surprised most of their fellow batchmates, and Oikawa had joked that Iwa-chan’s puny brain was never going to be of any use for the intel department.

“What am I going to do, Iwa-chan?” he cried out.

Iwaizumi had been in the middle of training some new cadets when Oikawa barged into their command post, his face frustrated, and leaking murderous intent. The poor trainees went on their way to the field for some other hands-on learning with another instructor when Iwaizumi told them to, leaving the vehicle to themselves.

This Operation Telos was an obvious suicide mission. Well, on the surface it didn’t seem that way, but if you looked deeper into it, and if you knew Miya and his dealings with the enemy nation, it was a no brainer. 

If Oikawa’s team carried out the mission as planned, they were obviously going to get killed. The probability of coming back alive was close to zero. If they deserted, they’ll become wanted men and hunted down till they’re captured and executed. Even if they do manage to complete the mission and come back alive, there was another thing to worry about- the nature of this mission itself was politically damning, it isn’t supposed to be done in the first place, so Miya would just used them as scapegoats to take the blame for the repercussions, and in the end, they still die.

“And Tobio-chan, oh. Tobio-chan!” he wailed, “He’s going to die because of me too. I’m such a terrible person, Iwa-chan.”

“You’re going to die and you’re still thinking about that kid?”

“But Iwa-chan! I was the one that made him join my team. And now he’s going to die because of me.”

“Come.” Iwaizumi said, sitting down and pulling out a chair beside him, motioning for Oikawa to join him. He pulled out his notebook and a pen. “Hurry up!” he shouted to his confused friend.

“What are you doing, Iwa-chan?” he asked, sitting down beside Iwaizumi nevertheless, watching as his friend scribbled down the outline of Operation Telos in a messy handwriting. 

“This is about it, right?” He slid the notebook closer to Oikawa for him to see, and received a nod.

“Okay, listen up, Oikawa.” he said in a hushed whisper, his tone serious, although it was shaking slightly despite his efforts to maintain his composure. “We’re going to help you escape.”

“Huh? How?” The brunette’s voice lowered to a whisper as well, so that the both had to lean their faces closer to hear each other.

“I’ve got an idea.” Iwaizumi said. He dragged one of the computers on the table they used for training towards them and started typing furiously, searching up maps and all sorts of information on the system. “Listen carefully Shittyikawa, and remember it, because I’m not going to tell you again.” Or rather,  _ I’m not going to have the chance to tell you again,  _ he winced at the thought.

“Wow, Iwa-chan can actually use his brain?”

“Shut up you idiot! I can’t believe you can still joke in this kind of situation!” He gave his friend a whack on the head, and Oikawa laughed cheekily, though his smile was forced through a wall of worry and distress.

“Thanks, Iwa-chan.”

“I’m not going to let you die like that.”

It was the strong, dependable Iwa-chan, taking care of the Oikawa-san that was always getting into trouble. Nothing much seemed to have changed.

He didn’t know whether Iwaizumi’s plan was going to work, but believing and trying their best was the only choice they had. 

* * *

Oikawa’s team was a special squad in the military, one that specialises in reconnaissance. They scout for the main body of the army, trespassing into enemy territory, setting the way for the main troops. Other than that they could also perform a plethora of dangerous tasks, like eliminating a small group of threats or taking over key installations by planting explosives. They were highly skilled individuals that have a wide range of skill sets, capable of operating in both urban and jungle terrain. In a way they were an elite infantry team; every one of them have gone through the most rigorous of training, and are plenty strong.

One thing though, was that they were part of a highly classified unit. Few people know of their names and existence, and you could only join this department by invitation.

Each team consisted of four soldiers, and lieutenant Oikawa’s team consisted of him, sergeant Kageyama Tobio, corporal Hinata Shoyo, and lance corporal Yamaguchi Tadashi. All of them were very professional and had complete trust in their commander.

“Oi, idiot Hinata, sit still!” Kageyama grabbed Hinata by the head.

“Okay okay okay let me go already!!” the redhead flailed his arms around. “I was trying to catch that spider- AAHH” he gave up as Kageyama tightened his grip.

_ Okay _ , maybe they liked to play around quite a lot, but Oikawa trusted them when it was time to do their jobs. Kageyama was a reliable sergeant that took care of his men, though it’s only Hinata and Yamaguchi, and a dependable subordinate to Oikawa. He took care of things well as the second in command, and proved his worth.

“Alright, let’s start the briefing for Operation Telos.” Oikawa clapped his hands, watching the three of them place their hands on the table in their meeting room and look at him in anticipation. They always did that, they loved going on missions, they loved their jobs, but this time it pained Oikawa to see them like that knowing that they were being sent to die.

He took out a tablet and opened a topographic map on the table so they could all see. He pointed to their location on the map.

“This is where we are right now.”

They nodded. Oikawa always started by saying that. The idiots could navigate when push comes to shove, but...let’s not take any chances. The best way to start the briefing was to make them believe it’s something simple.

“Our target will be here.” he pointed his pen at a location some 40 kilometers away, on a vegetated terrain.

“In the jungle this time?” Hinata asked, and Oikawa gave a confirmation nod. Most of their operations were urban, but they were familiar with the jungle too.

“The target’s name is Hoshiumi Kourai. A minister from Thessaly, the country beside us. He’s meeting the leader of the Black Jackals, the biggest terrorist group in our country, at a town near the border of our country. Once he's done, he will take a path through the forest to here-” he shifted his pen to a small clearing on the map, “where a helicopter is waiting for him.”

He was pretty sure he spoke in very simple terms so they could understand, but paused a few seconds for them to digest the information anyway, before continuing, “So, we will capture him while he’s in the forest, on the way to the heli.” He moved his pen along the predicted path of their target. “He has only one bodyguard with him.”

“So, we just have to kill him, right?” Hinata asked, and Oikawa slapped his hand on his forehead. The little shrimp always doesn’t get anything. At least Yamaguchi gets it and Kageyama understands somewhat, he consoled himself, as he watched the sergeant scribble down notes on his notebook.

“Yes, I mean, no. We can’t kill him. They want him alive.” the commander continued, annoyed that his concentration was getting affected by Hinata. “The general idea is, we will get there by foot, ambush him, capture him alive, bring him to a rendezvous point in the forest, where some other guys will pick him up.” He moved his pen along the route that they were supposed to take as he described the plan.

“Understand?”

They nodded.

“Okay, now for the details.” He turned to sergeant Kageyama, who tightened his grip on his pen, ready to write down every word his commander said, for he as the sergeant was in charge of the other two.

“We will set off two days from now, at 1600. A vehicle will wait for us at the transport building, so make sure they’re ready over there ten minutes before that.

The vehicle will take us a little into the forest, here. That will be our starting point.” he pointed to the map to show Kageyama, “Coordinates 520233, codename zero. From there, we will walk 42 kilometers through the jungle. Report lines will be every 6 km, 6 in total, namely Argon, Barium, Cobalt, Dubnium, Erbium, Florine. Make sure we radio back at these intervals so they know we’re not dead. After the last report line at Florine we turn off the signal sets and observe radio silence. Then, we get into ambush formation at this axis over here,” he pointed again, “and wait. Then when they come, we do the usual. Kill the bodyguard, capture Hoshiumi. Once done, we have to bring him about another 12 km from there, to the military facility here. It’s just a small inconspicuous house, but that’s the rendezvous point. Then, the intel guys will come pick him up with a jeep. Then, We walk back on our own.”

Kageyama wrote down those instructions religiously, while Oikawa took a breather. Once he was done scribbling, Kageyama looked up, his brows knitted together. He made that look whenever there was something he didn’t understand.

“Oikawa-san.” he said, scratching his head as he stared at his notes. Their team was probably one of the only few where they referred to their superiors by their names. Normally, the respectful way to address them would be by their rank, or ‘sir’, or ‘sergeant’. But that just shows how close their team was.

“Hmm, Tobio-chan?” Oikawa was expecting him to ask questions. After all, there were quite a few problems in this plan and Kageyama should be perceptive enough to pinpoint them out. Hell, if he was the type to just keep silent and went along with it thinking it was a beautiful plan, Oikawa would have dismissed him and requested for a member swap in his team long ago.

First question that Tobio raised- “It’s suspicious that Hoshiumi is travelling with only one bodyguard. Isn’t he an important person?”

Oikawa answered patiently, although he knew it wasn’t going to satisfy the boy. “That’s what the intelligence department gathered, we can’t question them. Well, we can only be wary.”

Second question Tobio raised- “Our mission is to capture Hoshiumi, but we’re letting the terrorist leader go? Isn’t it going to spark conflict with the other country if we capture Thessaly’s minister?”

“That’s not for us to decide. We’re soldiers who simply follow the orders of the higher ups.”

Third question Tobio raised- “Assassinations or capturing people we could do, but aren’t these usually done by the commando units or something?”

“The commando units are busy with other things. Colonel Miya believes that our squad is familiar with the territory and suited for this mission.”

Fourth question Tobio raised- “By the time we finish the mission and get to the rendezvous point, we won’t have enough food and water to head back to the base, we can’t carry that much on us. Will we get to resupply there? Or can we arrange for transport back since they’re already bringing Hosiumi back by vehicle?”

This made the side of Oikawa’s lips curl slightly upwards. “They don’t want to arrange transport for us because it will draw too much attention.” he said, knowing very well what the higher ups told him was full of bullshit. “Well, they don’t intend on having us return anyway.”

Kageyama kept silent, his face straight. Even Hinata and Yamaguchi turned to look at their commander, the atmosphere started to get tense.

“It’s a suicide mission.” Kageyama stated.

Well, yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Telos is a Greek word for end/termination/finish.  
> Just in case there's any confusion with the ranks, Miya (colonel) is the highest, followed by Oikawa and Iwaizumi (lieutanent), Kageyama (sergeant), Hinata (corporal), and Yamaguchi (lance corporal).
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. D-Day

Tobio had always been a bit special. To Oikawa, at least.

Oikawa threw his hands to the back of his head, leaning back against his chair, trying to think of how to explain the situation to his team. How smart he was, that little beast of a sergeant he had under him. “Close.”

As he’d expected, Kageyama instantly picked up on the little things that made this operation a fishy one.

“Now that you’ve heard the general outline of Operation Telos, let me tell you what’s the true objective of this mission.” Oikawa now clasped his hands together in front of his face, leaning in closer to his teammates. Nervous, not knowing what kind of reaction to expect from them, he said “They want to get rid of us.”

“Firstly, I owe you all an apology.” Before anyone could say anything, the brunette suddenly stood up and bowed a full 90 degree bow, shocking the three in front of him.

“S-sir? Don’t do that?” They stood up awkwardly, not knowing what to do, seeing their superior do that in front of them. Oikawa had always been cheerful and joked around all the time, this definitely didn’t suit his proud and narcissistic demeanor.

“This all happened because of me. We’re all going to die because of me.” he said, still in a bow.

“O-Oikawa-san, what’s wrong? What happened?” They all seemed so worried and anxious, they all cared so much for him, it made Oikawa’s feelings of guilt build up even more, he felt like his heart was going to explode. If he lifted his face and took another look at Tobio’s concerned face, he wasn’t going to be able to take it. 

He finally sat down again, and so did his three subordinates. He told them everything, from how he stupidly decided to look into Miya Atsumu’s confidential folder, and ended up being assigned this task and dragging them down along with him. He apologized again, and again, he didn’t even know how many times he’d said it, that he felt tears leaking from his eyes.

“Shit.” he cursed silently. Crying in front of his subordinates was an extremely unprofessional thing to do. He thought he’d be able to hold it in, but once he started everything came out all at once. The commander should be their strength, their leader, not showing his weak side How else would they have faith in him? But what does that matter? This felt like the end of the world already.

“Oikawa-san.” Kageyama called his name, and he thought the younger boy was going to scold him, curse at him, blame him for all they have to go through because of him. “It’s not your fault.” was all he said.

The sobbing commander finally raised his head and looked up in surprise.

“Yeah!” Hinata agreed, his voice spirited as always. “No matter how you look at it, it’s that baka-Miya’s fault! He’s the bad guy!”

“I also think so, Oikawa-san.” Yamaguchi gave a reassuring smile.

“That’s right, so stop blaming yourself.” Kageyama’s eyes bore through his soul. “I’ll follow you no matter what happens. Even if it means death, I’ll still follow you.”

“Ugh, Kageyama you’re so cheesy!” Hinata jokes, and shrieked when the black haired boy gripped his head again.

“Besides, even though it seems like they’re going to abandon us and leave us to die in the jungle, it’s not an impossible mission. It’s difficult, but I think it can be done.” Yamaguchi added.

Oikawa shook his head, laughing at their antics and tried to calm his breathing before he spoke again. How embarrassing, he thought, that he had to show them his ugly crying face.

“That’s the part I haven’t told you all about.”

They sat down quietly and listened again, this time all leaning towards Oikawa.

“It’s not the first time we’ve walked such long distances. But walking so far through vegetation will surely tire us out.” 

They nodded in agreement, as Oikawa continued explaining.

“Then, at the place we’re supposed to ambush Hoshiumi, we will be the ones getting attacked by his men from Thessaly instead. They plan to kill us there. One bodyguard? That’s just what Miya fed to the intelligence guys.

If, by any chance, we survive that and capture him, Miya’s men lay in wait at the rendezvous point. It wouldn’t be difficult to kill us off by then, after tiring us out and fighting with the Thessaly soldiers.

And if, by some superhuman ability we are able to defeat them all and return with Hoshiumi, Thessaly and Macedon will break out in war because we kidnapped their minister. To stop that, they will put the blame on us, saying we acted on our own, or that we were supposed to capture the terrorist leader but got the wrong guy. We’ll become scapegoats and executed to maintain their twisted sense of peace.

And, If we run away from the mission, you know what happens to deserters.”

By the time Oikawa was finished with his explanation, all of them couldn’t make a sound for a good few minutes. From what he said, everything seemed hopeless. There was no way out. They were about to fall into despair, when he brought up Iwaizumi.

“But,” the commander said. “We’re going to escape.”

“Aaarghh!” Hinata exclaimed, seemingly frustrated. “Why didn’t you tell us that from the start then, I got all depressed for nothing!”

“Hinata…” Yamaguchi tried to calm the orange fur ball down.

Though, that made Oikawa chuckle. Hinata never failed to raise their spirits with his confidence.

“Now, let me tell you about the real plan.” Oikawa, eyes still puffy, slammed his palms on the table with a determined grin on his face. Now that he’s got the confirmation that his squad wasn’t wailing in regret and depression and was still willing to fight, they had hope.

They had only one choice, and that is to escape, and live.

* * *

“Are you guys ready?” The brunette commander walked towards his men who were doing one last check on their gear.

It had already been two days since Oikawa briefed them about this suicide mission, and the time had finally come. They had spent their time diligently preparing for their operation, rushing without rest to make sure everything was set in place with the limited manpower that their small team had. Kageyama supervised the other two, making sure they had all their equipment ready, talcing the maps, checking the compasses and all. Oikawa went through the plan again and again with Iwaizumi, making plans, and contingency plans, for anything that could go wrong when they were out there. These two days he had laid his eyes on Kageyama more than he ever had as well, wanting to look at him as much as possible before they had to leave, in case he wouldn’t be able to see him again.

Kageyama eyed the other two’s rucksacks on the floor. “You got everything on the list, right?” He asked them for the hundredth time.

“Yes,  _ sergeant _ .” Hinata rolled his eyes, patting the pouches on his tactical vest, making sure his ammunition was safely in place.

This time, Oikawa had instructed them to carry slightly different items in their rucksacks than what they carried for normal missions. He made sure they had what they needed for survival, since they would be living in the jungle for a while.

All of them had gone through solo survival training in the jungle before, having nothing but a knife with them for three full weeks, alone, in the unforgiving, dense vegetation. It was tiring as heck and they sure came out much more experienced and resilient, but this time they might be spending a lot more time out there than they would like, so it was better to go prepared.

“Maps and compass?” Kageyama checked, and Hinata and Yamaguchi took them out of his thigh pockets for him to see.

“All talced and ready to go.” they said, flipping the maps over to show him that it was waterproofed.

“Markers?”

Yamaguchi opened a compartment of his tactical vest to show him the neatly arranged red, blue, green, and black fine tip markers, while Hinata pulled them out of his trouser pockets again.

“Keep them like Yamaguchi does!” the sergeant snapped at him. “Things are going to fall all over the place if you keep them all in one pocket!”

Oikawa left them to bicker as he observed the vehicle they were going to take reverse out of the garage, two men on the ground signalling to tell the driver how much to move. It was a 1.5 tonner truck, large stubby wheels, designed to go through uneven terrain. He shifted his gaze to a four storey building to the right, on the top floor, third window from the left, he saw an all too familiar smug face looking back at him. Miya Atsumu, that fiend. Oikawa swore he’ll get back at him one day. That is, if they manage to survive through this.

“Sir, we’re ready!” The driver shouted to Oikawa when he was done.

“Let’s go, boys.” He turned to his team, and they did a team fist bump, cheered loudly, and loaded their equipment, then hopped onto the back of the truck. Oikawa sat in the front seat beside the driver, but not before taking one last glance at Kageyama, watching him heave himself onto the vehicle in a swift movement, like the strong, competent soldier he was.

If they walk without rest, it would take them 14 hours to get to where Hoshiumi was supposed to turn up. It was 4pm now. Intel says Hoshiumi would be there at 9 to 10 am, that was 17 hours from now. Walking non-stop with 30kg backpacks without sleep and barely getting a breather before carrying out an attack mission. What an inhuman feat they were expected to carry out.

But they were not going to do that.

The plan begins.

* * *

As he sat in the vehicle, watching the scenery float by, Oikawa’s thoughts drifted to the blue eyed, black haired sergeant that he kept around him all the time. He honestly, genuinely, felt guilty for dragging them all into this mess, despite how annoying and playful he is with his team usually. They’d gone on so many missions together, they’d built so much trust and chemistry. Now they were going to run for their lives together.

Last night, Oikawa was so afraid. Theoretically, the plan could work, but it was messily put up within the measly two days that they had. Iwa-chan told him that he would help them from behind the scenes with whatever he could, and that made him happy. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Iwaizumi, the stocky man was a capable intelligence officer despite how stupid he looks. But what if, just what if, they didn’t make it, and he’d never live to see the world, see Tobio, again?

That one night before their mission, Kageyama was called up to Oikawa’s bunk. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to because of Oikawa’s antics; in fact it happened so often that Hinata and Yamaguchi didn’t even bother asking where he was going anymore. Sometimes he wouldn’t even come back for the night, and they teased him about it, but they didn’t mind. 

In that unit, officers had their own bunks, while the sergeants and men would share bunks. So Oikawa would often complain about being lonely and call Kageyama up to keep him company. He incessantly grumbled that their team had only four people, so what’s the big deal about having them all share a room? At first it was quite annoying, but slowly, gradually, Kageyama grew to love being with him, seeing him display his wide range of emotions, his lonelier, needy side, and sometimes his sleeping face when he made Tobio stay till he fell asleep. 

It was terribly unprofessional, but heck, neither of them cared. As long as they maintained a proper appearance in front of others and did their jobs well, it was fine. After all, Kageyama was only here because Oikawa pulled him into his team.

That night was their last night in camp, before they left, probably for good. They were never going to return. Oikawa was laying in his bed, while Kageyama sat in a chair beside him like he always did, going through the things in his notebook regarding their mission the next day. One thing the both of them made sure to do was to keep their physical distance, making sure not to cross the line, so things didn’t become awkward between them and affect their working relationship.

“Are you scared, Tobio-chan?” he asked cheekily as he watched the other’s eyes go left and right like a typewriter, engrossed in his notes.

“I’m just trying to make sure.”

“Let it be, Tobio-chan. It’s all in your head already. I can even read it from your eyes.”

Oikawa rolled over on his stomach and propped his head up on his hands, looking at Kageyama till he couldn’t stand the staring and took his eyes off the paper.

A smirk was on the brunette’s face, as usual.

“Confident, aren’t you, Oikawa-san?” he said, and Oikawa sighed.

“You know, I might be an asshole at times, but I’m really sorry you have to go through this because of me.”

Kageyama put his notebook down on the table.

“Stop saying that. I’m glad that at least I can go with you.”

“Why? You can’t stand working with anyone other than me? Is that a confession, Tobio-chan?” he teased, poking his subordinate’s side with a finger, making him yelp, face slightly red at the provocation.

“T-That’s nonsense!”

“But Tobio-chan,” he said. “I like you very much.”

Kageyama’s eyes widened, not knowing how to respond. He looked at the older male, who was still proning in bed, now burying his face in his pillow.

“I like you, Tobio.” he said, voice muffled from his face being squished against the pillow. “I like you sho muchhh.”

Tobio blinked, not knowing whether to feel flattered or embarrassed or annoyed at this display. He sure felt happy that Oikawa declared his love for him, since he’d always been the one showing his affections and only receiving mindless teasing in return. But what was this feeling? Seeing Oikawa’s distress made him feel like he had won. He smirked and said “So you like me so much you want to die together with me, huh?”

“Shut upphhh, Tobiooo!” His screams were muffled from his face still being in the pillow.

“Hey Oikawa-san, talk to me properly.” He pulled the back of his superior’s collar, forcing him up to face him.

“How rude!” Oikawa was frantically trying to pull the pillow close to his face, but Kageyama had already got him up, and saw what he was trying to hide- the red puffy eyes and tears that flowed like rivers.

“Crybaby.” he remarked, not at all surprised by the scene. 

Oikawa had always been very sensitive with his feelings, even though he tried to hide it behind a frivolous and pompous attitude. Every time, he would cry alone, out of sight of everyone, so no one saw his weak side.

The younger male sighed helplessly, wondering how the guy survived so long in the military. He got off from his chair, and pulled Oikawa into a hug, only making him bawl harder. He just showered and he’s going to get snot all over his shirt because of this sobbing bastard, but whatever. This was their last night anyway.

“Tobio-chan, you’re so mean!” He whined between sobs, his voice shaky but still trying his best to sound tough.

“I am?” Kageyama replied nonchalantly.

“I’m only saying this, because I might never get to see you again. So, just in case,” he wraps his arms around Kageyama tightly, “just in case we don’t make it, I want you to know that I love you.”

“Idiot!” Kageyama’s own arms tightened around him as well. “We will make it out. Don’t give up before you even try.”

“I’m not giving up! I’m just saying what-ifs.”

“Right, right.”

“So, what about you, Tobio-chan?” he asked, voice slightly softer, “What do you feel about me?”

When Kageyama was quiet for a while, he added “It’s alright if you hate me. I dragged you into this mess after all.”

“Oikawa-san,” He said, pulling them apart to look into those beautiful tear stained honey brown eyes. “I…”

The brunette was waiting eagerly, anticipating, when Kageyama said “I’ll give you my answer after we get out alive.”

  
Oh, how sneaky. He never expected that Tobio was capable of pulling something like that. That means, they  _ had _ to get out alive, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talc is a transparent plastic-like thing you wrap over maps to make it waterproof
> 
> Was it too draggy/descriptive? Let me know what you think!


	3. Going off the grid

Soon, before he’d realised it, they had arrived at their start point, pulling Oikawa out of his blissful flashback during the bumpy ride and back into the current situation.

He got off the front seat and went to the back to watch his three other teammates unload themselves and their equipment, then thanked the driver, because he was a polite, lovable dude that isn't snobbish just because of his rank. The group watched him drive off, the vehicle disappearing into the distance, before they turned to look at each other again. Now, there was no going back. All that’s left around them were trees, nature, the sun, and the vegetation only got denser as they looked to the direction they were headed.

“Let’s get going.”

They nodded silently in response, Oikawa taking the lead with the navigation as he adjusted the heavy rucksack on his shoulders with a small hop. Kageyama carried the heaviest load of them all because of the radio equipment- he was in charge of reporting their position back to their base camp. Technology allowed them to navigate easily with the use of GPS and electronics, but as a backup all of them carried a map and compass on their bodies nonetheless.

As Oikawa walked in front, Hinata and Yamaguchi followed, and Kageyama was the last man, making sure they were all keeping together. He kept his eyes focused on his commander that was a distance in front of the pack, staring at his rucksack, his boonie hat, his exposed neck, anything, to get his mind off the fatigue, boredom, and dread. Looking at Oikawa made him feel oddly at ease in this unbelievable situation.

Every 6km of their planned route was what was marked as a ‘report line’. When they reached that specified location, Kageyama reported back to HQ on the radio through a coded frequency to let them know they were there. This was a standard procedure, to update HQ on their safety and that things were going well. If anything were to happen, the base would know and would be able to send reinforcements or notify related units.

_ It was also a way for Miya Atsumu to keep an eye on them. _

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, radio check over.”

“Zulu 01 this is Alpha 65, you are 4 by 8 over.”

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, Argon I say again Argon over.”

“Zulu 01 this is Alpha 65, Argon I say again Argon out.”

The first report line, Argon, was reached.

They carried on as planned. Because of the GPS equipment they were using, their headquarters could track exactly where they were, so it was pointless to fake their location. Thus in order to vanish off the grid, they had to do something about those.

When they reached the second report line, Barium, they reported just like how they did for the first one. More than two hours has passed since then. The terrain was more difficult to traverse than expected.

Then came report lines Cobalt. And then Dubnium.

It was around 11pm by then, they had walked non stop since a little past 4pm, only taking short 10 minute breaks every few kilometres. It started raining, just like the weather report said, though it came a little later than expected.

_ Thank god _ , Oikawa heaved a sigh of relief. With that, they will be able to proceed on to the next stage of their plan. They had to stick closer because it was harder to keep track of each other in the dark, and as they continued walking, the rain that started out as a drizzle got heavier and heavier till it was pouring, soaking them up like sponges even through the raincoat they had put on and weighing down their equipment, reducing their vision.

“I hate the rain.” Hinata mumbled. It was cold. And being wet and cold at night outdoors was one of the worst things.

“Bear with it a little more, guys. We’ve had much worse.” Yamaguchi encouraged them with a small smile when he saw the shagged out look on their faces. Though he was sure Hinata was just whining for the sake of it, he probably wasn't even half as tired as what he made himself out to be.

“It’s around here.” Oikawa suddenly stopped, checking on the GPS, then on his map.

They scooted closer to him, all of them looking down- at the cliff that was in front of them. The fall downwards was steep, if they weren’t careful, tumbling down that rocky slope might get someone killed. Which wasn’t all that unlikely, since they were moving in the dark where it was hard to see where you were going. Past sunset, the jungle became near pitch black on a new moon, far away from lights and civilization. 

Hinata “eek”-ed at the thought. But thankfully, at least for today, there was some moonlight from the half moon hanging low in the sky. 

Beyond the loud noise of the rain and thunder, they could hear what sounded like a river, the sound of strong currents intensified by the storm struck them as something dangerous even from such a distance away. They stood there, rain hitting them hard, as they just stared at the scenery for a moment.

“Okay!” the commander then broke the silence cheerily, holding the little GPS in his hand and pulling it back as if he were readying himself to throw a grenade, then flung the device in front of him. They watched it as much as they could through squinted eyes until there was a ‘plop’ sound, and a splash. It had fallen into the river below.

“Tobio-chan, hurry up! Do your thing!” He said to the boy beside him in a hushed voice.

“O-Okay!” He said and fumbled for the handset of the radio. Oikawa leaned in closer like he wanted to listen in on a telephone conversation, though it was just an obvious excuse to get close to Kageyama- the noisy sound of the radio could be heard without him having to press his ear close to other’s.

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, radio check over.” He purposely made his voice frantic, as if he were in trouble and calling for help; shouting over the rain certainly did make it more dramatic. Thankfully the dim moonlight wasn’t enough to show the embarrassed flush on his face.

_ Why do I have to do this? He _ sighed mentally but took his job seriously regardless.

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, radio check over.” He said again, after they didn’t answer in like, 3 seconds.

“Zulu 01 this is Alpha 65 you are 3 by 4 over.” The signaller on the other side of the call seemed a little confused, since the last report line was reached 20 minutes ago and they weren’t supposed to call in till at least another hour and a half later.

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, emergency emergency we are caught in a storm over.”

“Zulu 01 this is Alpha 65, what’s the emergency over.”

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, our commander fell down a cliff, we can’t find him AAAHH the storm-”

Kageyama knocked on the handset and blew some wind into it for sound effects.

“Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01, Alpha 65 this is Zulu 01-” *more noises*

“Landslide, landslide!”

A few more gurgling noises, and Kageyama unhooked the signal set from his rucksack, and threw it into the river like Oikawa had done to the GPS just a moment ago.

“Wow, Kageyama. You’re actually pretty good at acting?” Hinata had to raise his voice a little louder so they could hear it above the pouring rain, and Yamaguchi simply laughed when Kageyama reached for Hinata’s head.

“So proud of you, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa chimed, squeezing his hand. In the dark, no one could see them, so there was no reason for Kageyama to complain. To his amusement, Kageyama was very particular about maintaining their distance and public image to avoid rumors and being suspected of prohibited relationships. But Oikawa on the other hand loved to tease his little subordinate with exciting, thrilling scandalous touches in his office and hallways when people weren’t looking.

“Let’s hurry up and go.” Kageyama grumbled, and they made their way down to the river banks from a place where the drop wasn’t so steep.

When they were safely down by the river banks, they heaved a sigh of relief. Getting down from up there was no easy feat, now that they looked up, it seemed crazy they managed to make it down what looked like a 5 storey cliff, in the rain, with all their equipment to boot.

Beside them, the river looked much more massive than it did up there. The current was frighteningly strong, especially with the tremendous amount of water contributed by the rain, and swept away everything in its path. It looked at least 30 meters wide. The GPS and radio equipment dumped by them was nowhere to be seen, already swept away by the strong currents. 

“Well then, we don’t have much time. Throw away all the things you don't need.” Oikawa instructed, already taking off his vest and making sure he took everything he wanted from it, and chucked it into the river. “Never felt so good about littering.

The rest of them did the same, throwing away their guns, rifles, ammunition, GPS, electronic devices, radio sets, and anything that they could be tracked by. Hinata was reluctant to part ways with his rifle at first, but Yamaguchi talked him out of it. 

“We won’t be using it, Hinata.” he’d told him.

He was right. Firepower did nothing to aid their survival in the jungle, what mattered were knives. Carrying extra deadweight with them was not a rational move. Not to mention when they reach the stage where they have to blend into civilization, carrying guns will draw suspicion to them and after this it’ll be more difficult to find an opportunity to dispose of their equipment. 

_ But the guns _ , Hinata made a horrible, grief-stricken face as he threw his precious rifle into the river.

Oikawa’s team took about 6 hours to get here from the start point. If they sent a search party, it would take them even longer to prepare and head out here, since the terrain did not allow them to travel by vehicle, unless Miya was stupid enough to request for help from the Air Force to send a helicopter over. Assuming Miya was keeping this mission a secret and didn't want to draw too much attention, that was unlikely, but they should still spare as little time as possible to get away.

All they kept with them after relieving themselves of all the gear they didn’t need or want, were necessities they needed for survival...and maybe a little bit of luxury.

They had their rucksacks, a few swiss knives, machetes, magnifying glass, match sticks, lighter, mess tin, some rope and cord, a small torch, extra batteries, a raincoat, groundsheets, a set of civilian clothes, an extra set of military uniform, a towel, toiletries, simple medical supplies.

Each of them also brought along their water canteen, and carried 5 litres of water each, 2 days’ rations, and water purification tablets.

All of their items were safely waterproofed in ziploc bags.

“Since we’ll be travelling through the jungle avoiding civilization for a while, our uniform is the best we can ask for. It’ll help us stay camouflaged and hidden. It protects us from the wilderness.” Oikawa told them.

Yes, and what they were wearing. Their camouflage patterned military uniform, numerous pockets on the shirt and thigh pockets on the pants. They had on their reliable leather boots which they were very thankful for, to help them venture through the terrain and protect their feet. Gloves as well, that protected their hands, so they could grab and bash through the vegetation without much worry. And to top it off was their boonie hats, protecting their heads from unsuspecting insects of branches from above, shielding their eyes from rain and sunlight.

Then there were their shock resistant military wrist watches, that allowed them to keep track of the date and time, which they’d synced among themselves down to the millisecond before every mission. Having a way to tell the date and time was something they would very much need as they spent countless days in the wild. 

“But, we will have to pass through civilization at a certain point. When that time comes, we’ll abandon the uniforms and change to civilian clothes.”

His squad nodded absently as they fumbled with their equipment, and Oikawa gives them a few minutes to finish up what they needed to, before continuing with his pep talk.

“From this day on, we are not soldiers anymore. But we will not forget the fighting spirit that holds us together. We will work together and all of us will get out of this alive.” he faced them with a determined grin, “I’m counting on you guys.”

“Yessir!” they shouted in unison.

“Alright, no more calling me sir.” he laughed and pulled all of them into a tight group hug. “Thanks for coming with me.”

Their faces were brighter now. The rain and the burden he placed on their shoulders seemed to wear down on them for the past few days, but now their gleaming faces assured him they were ready to go. They’d follow him anywhere he leads them.

They arranged their equipment neatly into their rucksacks and left them in a bundle together a little further from the gushing current. Then Oikawa headed towards the walls of the cliff, running along the edge, looking for something with his torch. His team immediately followed suit. 

“Look for a rock with a red cloth tied to it with a string!” He instructed, and they shouted in acknowledgement.

“Oikawa-san!” They had been searching for a while before Yamaguchi called out and waved his hand at the commander. He was kneeling next to some shrubbery, pointing at something in front of him. Oikawa jogged over quickly as soon as he heard him. What he had found was indeed what they were looking for- a small rock, a torn, soaked red cloth tied to it with a nylon string. The string was connected to something that was buried within the ground. Everything was wet and mushy from the rain, but thankfully they found it without much trouble.

“Nice, Yama-chan!” Oikawa praised, and immediately began digging out the contents buried within the earth that the string led to. “Hinata, try to find a suitable place to set it up! Yamaguchi, you help him too.” He instructed, now wiping the mud off the ziploc bag he had dug up, revealing two claymore mines. He grinned. 

_ Thanks, Iwa-chan. _

“Shrimpy, you done?” He shouted over his shoulder.

“Yes! I think over here is good!” He heard a reply from several meters away, and jogged over with the claymores, inspecting the location Hinata had chosen.

Rubbing his fingers on his chin and then nodding in approval, Oikawa crouched down and began taking out the explosives.

“Tobio-chan, help me out here, Shrimpy and Yama-chan keep a lookout.”

They got to work immediately. Oikawa handed one of the claymores to Kageyama, and they started setting them up, swiftly and efficiently, already very familiar with the procedure through the thousands of repetitions they went through both in training and on actual missions. They positioned the clamores facing a vulnerable part of the cliff, where just a slight push would make the whole chunk of land fall apart, Kageyama double checking the position of his claymore with Oikawa before he laid out the line, looping it on a stake to secure it, then laying it even further down where the resulting landslide from the explosion will not crush them. Oikawa’s claymore line came the same way. Crouched side by side, they removed the dust covers and attached the connectors to the firing devices.

Once ready, they went to a prone position beside each other, firing device in hand, ready to blow up the cliff any moment.

“Hinata, Yamaguchi, clear?” He shouted to the two who were keeping watch, and they replied “clear”, notifying him they were out of the explosion range and safe.

“Alright, Tobio-chan.” Oikawa grinned, his wet fringe messily pushed away from his eyes, and at that moment Kageyama, while captivated by the way Oikawa looked unbelievably hot with wet hair stuck to his skin, he had a random thought-

“You’re so vain, Oikawa-san, why won’t you cut your hair? Even though it hinders your job as a soldier.”

“Oh, really now, you’re lecturing me on that? Now?” It made Oikawa gasp dramatically and frown with a pout, to which Kageyama pressed his lips together as he held back a chuckle. “Meanie!” He whined, and they both laughed.

“Fire on my command.” Oikawa’s voice reverts to a serious tone, and the both of them tore their gaze from each other, looking straight at their target. With a few seconds in between for them to gather their focus and flow in sync with one another, Oikawa gave his next command. “Three, two, one, fire.”

A boom echoed through the jungle. The good thing was that they were in the middle of a heavy storm, so if by any chance there happened to be unsuspecting people around the area, they would’ve probably assumed it was the thunder. Based on the training and operation schedules sourced by Iwaizumi, no one should be anywhere near the area they were in, anyway. 

The soil and earth collapsed from the explosion, causing a huge landslide that would’ve killed anyone had they been caught in it. Even if they had miraculously survived, the gushing waters of the river below would have washed them away to the ocean.

The two firers quickly pulled on and gathered the cord that connected their firing device to the claymore mines that had just detonated, coiling them and throwing them into the river as well to get rid of the evidence. The river had become quite the dumping ground.

The four of them spared no effort to grab their equipment and leave immediately, Hinata only managing to take a quick glance back at the scene, before being pulled away by his comrades.

“Don’t we have to make sure there’s no more remnants of the claymores?” He asked, to which Kageyama replied “Are you stupid? We won’t be able to find any, especially in this lighting and weather. Just look at the rubble!”

Hinata wanted to snap back a witty remark, but they were already gone from the scene, focusing all their strength on getting as far from the place as they could. Getting rid of any remains would be ideal, but they didn’t have the luxury of time to go through the massive heap of earth.

That was the first success of their escape plan.

* * *

The main gist of Iwaizumi’s plan was for them to fake their deaths and escape into the jungle. Of course they couldn’t just spend the rest of their lives in the jungle as cavemen hiding from the world, so they came up with a rough idea of where they could head to.

Firstly, Oikawa’s team would fake their deaths in a landslide they’d create for themselves. Thank the gods, for there was to be a huge thunderstorm on the day of their mission according to the weather forecast, after the sun had set, which they could use as a cover and help make their stories much more convincing. Iwaizumi had planted the claymores there for them as soon as he could, finding an excuse to leave his work for a day just to do that, making his colleague Tsukishima cover for his duties. He had spent a whole day hiking to that location and back on his own to hide the claymores, and you really have to thank him for that, Iwaizumi’s the MVP here. Who else would go through all that trouble for their shithead of a friend?

Then, with the GPS technology thrown away into the river, they would rely solely on traditional map and compass navigation, and head to a certain cave about 5 kilometers from the landslide that Iwaizumi and Oikawa had come across during their training days together in the area. Back in the day, in that inconspicuous cave, they hid some random supplies there for fun, as playful trainees, calling it their secret hideout in case they needed it in the future. Who would have known it would actually come into use. 

From there, they would have to travel by foot through the jungle Southwards, and somehow make it across the border into the country of Thessaly, then travel further South through Thessaly to reach the friendlier country of Aetolia, their end point, seek asylum there, and something would be arranged for them. For that last part Iwaizumi hasn’t updated them as of yet, but he said he would work things out and find a way to contact them.

“Just focus on surviving and getting there. We’ll contact you along the way.” he had said to Oikawa.

Thessaly was not a friendly nation to them, but Aetolia was a neutral one that did not take part in military or political strife between the two other countries. Perhaps Iwaizumi had thought they would be able to get help from them.

Nevertheless, it would be a tough journey through enemy territory before they can reach that country. But, was Thessaly still their enemy though, if they were now fleeing their own country and not soldiers anymore? When they were running from their own people? Where do they belong, and who do they fight for? To Oikawa, there was no such thing as fighting for your country or the greater good of the people. On the battlefield, all that matters are your fellow men on your left and right.

At some point in time his team would face similar existential crises, but for now, they had to focus on one thing- to live.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the mediocre quality of late updates and any errors present, and if this turned out to be a boring jungle survival course.  
> p.s. recently I've been obsessed with writing AtsuKita fics and all. sighs :')


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